Definition

1) Strong barely controllable emotion; 2) A strong enthusiasm; 3) A person or thing arousing this.

Tips

Witness those who demonstrate true passion for what they do.  It is a very different energy from that shown by those who are simply “at work”.  In the latter situation, passion and its associated energy is replaced with passive acceptance of the assigned task.  It is unfortunate when passion comes from activities outside of work (e.g., personal causes, hobbies) – given the amount of time people spend working.

Learn to diagnose the level of passion in your organization.  Passion is a form of energy, and we can pick up so much about the energy “atmosphere” in a company just by paying attention to our feelings as we look about public places like lobbies and reception areas, as well as by observing people’s informal interactions.  Contrast in your own mind staid workplaces you have visited with those alive with energy.

Tap into people’s energy potential.  Soul-inspiring leaders possess a unique ability to draw out potential from stakeholders, employees and customers alike.  This elusive quality distinguishes almost boundless opportunity from the constrained thinking that inhibits people, eliciting only a portion of their energy.  It is the difference between being “at work” and “working at” something.

Notice your impact on employees’ souls.  Expecting people to speak and behave in hushed tones drains their life force.  It crushes spirits and turns human beings into walking automatons.  Inviting passion makes people come alive and has them stride about with unbridled energy and purpose.  Where would you rather spend the half of your life that you are working?

Encourage passionate performance and be a winning organization.  Did you ever notice what happens to organizations that create zeal for their products and services among an intensely loyal following of customers?  When this magical mix occurs, financial returns follow and shareholders become passionate advocates for the stock, supporting the company with additional capital flows.  The passion is evident to all.

Restore passion alongside the desire for productivity.  Organizations can no longer count on productivity alone.  If they are to attract and retain talented workers and get the full value of their contribution, they must learn to respect employees’ desire to be passionate about what they do.  Otherwise, they risk not being able to attract sufficient qualified talent to survive.

Unlock an “atomic explosion” of energy.  Soul-inspiring workplaces consistently operate at peak levels, and they reap the rewards that come with embracing passion.  They do not typically pay better or offer extra benefits or more vacation.  These workplaces do not buy passion, since it is not for sale – and cannot be bought. Profitability and people practice are in complete alignment.

Realize passion is not simply a series of how-to steps.  A key ingredient is a leader’s evident passion for the enormous potential of their organization.  It is a feeling that calls forth a genuine emotional response among team members.  The actions required to evoke this response must be felt and transmitted to others based on the leader’s commitment to this ideal.  It is about personal persuasion.

Avoid manipulation of passion.  The outcome of any empty effort will be a cynical and listless workforce devoid of passion, perhaps forever.  While a manipulative effort may yield temporary short-term results, people will quickly see through it.  When they discover the ruse, their reaction will be swift.  Passion is a set of committed ideals put into practice.

Questions For Reflection

How much passion do you feel about your workplace – is it an “atomic explosion” of new ideas, or has your company’s idea reactor been mothballed?

What are you passionate about, and what do you notice about what stokes your passion?

Are you prepared to tolerate a work life that you are not passionate about?  What does this imply?

 

Definition

1) Discarded and antiquated; 2) Going out of use or date; 3) Less developed than formerly.

Tips

Embrace change as a challenge.  Leaders are constantly aware of the need for change and innovation; they embrace it as a challenge.  Prototypical managers, on the other hand, constantly attempt to perpetuate the status quo.  This intrinsic difference matters, particularly when you come to realize most of what we understand about the world of work today is based on obsolete thinking.

Harness change as a competitive advantage.  Do not fall prey to the “Not Invented Here” syndrome – which magically believes competition knocks on everyone’s door but your own.  Continuous change, quality improvement and operational excellence are requirements for every organization nowadays, not simply a select few.  Drop any signs of a tenacious hold on old ways.

Watch out for complacency.  Especially complacency that risks to lull you into a marketplace stupour, reliant on a particular product or service that may have carried your organization in the early years but that could now be overtaken by newer “interlopers”.  Do not allow your very bread and butter to come into risk.  Stay alert and sharp to signs of marketplace drowsiness.

Overcome the human tendency toward the status quo.  While not perfectly correlated to behaviour, most people exhibit innate characteristics such as their handedness.  If you think about performing your morning routine with your opposite hand, you will likely find yourself uncomfortable.  Yet, this need to perform tasks with our “non-preferred hand” is just what organizations are asking more of these days.

Create acceptance of a newly revised version of the status quo.  Mentally we need to move from a model of reliance on stability as giving us comfort to a place where our ability to accept and implement change, with control over how that happens, gives us the comfort and security we need to feel less anxious about change.  Any leader in any position of influence knows the consequences of not keeping up.

Help others master their environment.  Do not promise stability; provide a context in which people can understand and deal with change in a proactive and productive manner.  Honesty about the real state of affairs is ultimately more important than the false sense of security that so often accompanies those who try to shield employees during times of change.  This is what reduces anxiety.

Think in terms of future possibilities rather than past practices.  Soul-inspiring leaders embrace change as a permanent state of hyper-creativity, where they get to use their skills and abilities to create new opportunities, and then lead others to that same view.  So many current models of how work gets done are outdated.  We need to unlearn them.  Begin by acknowledging where your thinking is obsolete.

Questions For Reflection

What makes you anxious about change, and how can you avoid this automatic “fight” or “flight” human response in the future?

What is one immediate and constructive thing you could do to improve your organization’s ability to embrace change constructively?

What are the most potent skills you can use to help others learn to thrive, rather than merely survive, during times of intense change?

 

Definition

1) The process of bringing up or training; 2) Fostering care; 3) Nourish.

Tips

Stop injustices against men and women at work.  It is patently unfair to shelve whole parts of ourselves while at work.  For men, it takes the form of denying their feminine qualities for fear of being branded “unmanly.”  For women, it becomes about squelching so-called masculine traits for fear of being labeled “aggressive.”  Such devaluation has created deep divides between both sexes.

Integrate the workplace.  To heal unhealthy dynamics between men and women at work, environments must move from segregation to integration.  In this new context, men and women would offer their inherent strengths to one another, growing and learning as a result of this valuable exposure.  They would stop trying to be like one another, and instead are themselves.

Face the realities of a global twenty-first century workplace.  This next century will demand that leaders adopt a participative outlook if they are to survive.  This will mean inviting differing viewpoints in making decisions, using cooperative approaches to get work done and generating support by nurturing (not manipulating) others.  Drop false distinctions that create separation between people.

Work from a place of “internal alignment.”  On an individual level, alignment refers to the internal cooperation between our masculine and feminine traits.  We each possess both sets – often in varying proportions, with a preference for one over the other.  To be an effective coach or mentor (leadership roles), we are ideally able to balance both sets of qualities; they work hand in glove.

Nurture for the right reasons.  Never use nurturing as an under-handed way to support longer working hours while doing nothing to reduce inhumane workloads.  Nurturing is not mutually exclusive from getting on with business.  And, if leaders nurture their workforce solely to wrench more output per employee, then this “churn and burn” attitude must be stringently questioned.

Seize the opportunity presented by nurturing team members.  If someone on your team is highly compassionate while achieving results, harness this person’s potential for the benefit of everyone concerned.  Instead of chiding them for being too ‘soft’, learn what makes them so effective.  A soft-yet-strong negotiating style can save companies a significant sum in claims, etc.  It’s honey over vinegar!

Think about what would be nurturing for others.  The vehicle matters not so much as the thought itself.  Whether you bring in donuts for the office, treat people to a special lunch or catered break, buy them tickets to events, weekend getaways, dinner or evening on the town, spa visits or weekend retreats, or give the afternoon to go to the beach, what counts is the spirit behind the action.

Transform your employees’ experience of caring.  Soul-inspiring leaders base their actions in such questions as, “What can I do to make sure these people never forget how much they mean to us?”  Imagine what would be possible in your workplace if you kept that question as a constant guiding motive for your actions, using the resources at your disposal to demonstrate constant care for people.

Questions For Reflection

How do the descriptions of masculine and feminine qualities show up in your workplace and in you?

How could you develop more of those aspects of the masculine or feminine representing your least-preferred style?

When was the last time you did something ‘nurturing’ for your team members and/or yourself?

 

Definition

1) With fully developed powers of body and mind; 2) Adult; 3) Sensible, wise.

Tips

Reject conformity.  Emotional and spiritual maturity is not necessarily about being a rebel.  But it does require a certain comfort with who you are on the inside rather than always worrying about what those around you are thinking, or projecting the consequences of your own behaviour on others because it is too difficult to take responsibility for yourself.

Resolve your past.  Resolving one’s past (family life, upbringing, sibling relationships, past marriages) is first.  For every bad experience there is a positive lesson to take away.  Examine who and what is preventing you from putting the past into perspective and moving toward the future confident and masterful in having forgiven and moved on.

Let go of negative experiences.  Each lesson in life, no matter how hard won, must be seen as only that – a lesson.  And a lesson must be learned.  Once learned, one has a better chance of avoiding repeating those episodes in the future.  Not that there won’t always be issues that arise from time to time.  Rather, it is about not hanging onto the negative experiences of our lives.

Hold up the “mirror of examination” to your own actions.  Soul-inspiring leaders take true responsibility for their impact on others.  They do not feign accountability, all the while making others wrong.  They examine their own limiting beliefs and realize that one finger pointing toward others means three fingers are pointing in their direction.  They consider: “What are those three fingers pointing at in me?”

Get comfortable inside your own skin.  This aspect of emotional and spiritual maturity is about investing time and energy to conquer personal ‘demons’ and thereby actually start to enjoy one’s own company.  By cultivating awareness of their own souls, leaders start to earn the right to be called mature, for they have taken the courageous steps to be at peace with themselves.

Travel courageously inward.  Rather than always wanting to run away from yourself, become your own best friend.  Rather than projecting your ‘stuff’ onto others, own it.  Rather than unquestioningly accepting others’ opinions about how to live your life, go by what is right for you, trusting your inner counsel.  It takes courage to soul search, but reflection also brings reward.

Make yourself happy.  A definition of a full life must include making yourself happy.  By being self-indulgent in this regard (practicing what is called in coaching “extreme self-care”), we put our best foot forward and have enough to give from inside ourselves to make others happy.  When traveling, we put on our oxygen mask first in emergencies to next help other passengers.

Strive toward personal mastery.  For soul-inspiring leaders, maturity is a way of being that continuously asks: “Is this how I want to live my life?  Is this how I want to be treated or treat others?”  All actions are scrutinized to make sure they turn toward, not away from, spirit.  Those who choose immaturity will get what they deserve, as will those who turn toward maturity.

Questions For Reflection

What is present for you about your family and your past that may still be interfering with your success as a fully integrated, mature adult?

To what degree are you comfortable inside your own skin, and what changes would you like to make to this aspect of your maturity?

How do you choose to interpret the notion “extreme self-care” – as self-caring or selfish?  What does that tell you?

Definition

1) Gain knowledge or skill by study, experience or being taught; 2) Become aware of by information or from observation; 3) Acquire or develop a particular ability.

Tips

Agree that good leadership requires some element of confidence.  Confidence, in turn, often derives from a strong ego presence.  When this is balanced with personal insight, empathy and an inclination to learn, ego drives leaders to exude confidence in their vision so others feel compelled and comfortable following.  Willingness to learn counterbalances the ego, keeping it under control.  It avoids unbridled egotism.

Retain a desire to learn.  When there is a loss of desire to continuously improve, the ego runs amok.  Self-assured becomes overly confident and eventually turns to self-importance.  With ego as the driver, over time a leader’s persuasion becomes less personally authentic and more power- or position-centric.  This robs them of the true privilege and power of leadership.

Distinguish between knowledge and data (or information).  Many leaders are confused and dazzled by the amount of information they receive daily about their organizations.  Yet, so much of this information has no real value.  It lacks a context or intent that turns data into knowledge – meaning, clarity about the context or intent with which the information is being collected.  Randomness equals random results.

Act with intent.  Good leaders develop a sense of the issues and immediately seek help to assess options or validate perspectives.  Good leaders encourage everyone, including themselves, to access sources of learning and knowledge.  They do not rely on lower-level information to provide intent or context, and therefore avoid being manipulated by “statistics lies”.

Understand how tasks are really performed.  Leaders must learn to understand the less obvious aspects of how tasks such as transaction processing and service delivery are handled.  It is the difference between knowing how many transactions are being processed per day (information) versus how customers are being treated as these orders are processed (knowledge).

Stay away from exercises to document tacit knowledge.  While we can extract the knowledge (maybe) locked in employees’ heads, we cannot replicate the dedication, judgment and tenacity of a single employee acting in the best interests of the business.  Do not allow so-called knowledge management initiatives to dehumanize your work environment through documentation to eliminate headcount.

Share rather than hoard information.  When information becomes something to control, we move away from a collaborative model of sharing collective wisdom – one that is required to succeed in today’s hypercompetitive world.  Pay attention to the inherent message you are sending about knowledge management; treat it as a collaborative tool to improve intellectual capital.

Generate awareness through organizational learning.  While not generally easily measured, an organization’s ability to correctly diagnose potential opportunities and threats in the environment takes it from good to great.  Combined with ability to execute swiftly, awareness builds a capability called organizational agility (value attained through quality of insight and speed of execution).

Questions For Reflection

When was the last time you focused on learning something completely new, and what was the subject?

What is it like for you to learn (e.g., invigorating, rewarding, challenging, etc.)?

Answer the question: “If I could only completely learn about one thing, it would be…”

 

Definition

1) The state of being aware or informed of any thing; 2) Showing knowledge or awareness; 3) Consciousness.

Tips

Acknowledge that we always ‘know.’  What we know in our heart of hearts is how we are being in our external interactions, even if we do not always care to admit it.  We may find clever ways to justify uncomfortable discrepancies between how we would prefer to see ourselves and how we are actually being.  But on some level, we cannot hide from our conscience.

Reconnect with your inner wisdom.  All the answers to all our life questions are ultimately on the inside – even if we may have lost sight of this truth for whatever reason.  As a result, many wind up looking outside themselves for solutions, as if others held better or smarter answers.  Venture into your own core long enough and you will always come up with the answer yourself.

Observe that inner knowing operates all the time.  Whether we realize it or not, inner knowing has been at play in every decision we have ever made.  For many of us, our wisdom operates without our complete awareness.  As long as that is the case, we risk it taking us into potentially unwanted situations.  The key to harvesting its full power is to bring conscious attention to our inner knowing.

Access more of your innate ability.  Einstein is reported to have said that we use only two to ten percent of our ability; imagine how far we could go beyond those figures using inner knowing.  Given the dynamic nature of today’s world, it only makes sense to cultivate a wisdom-based mindset within organizations.  Thinking “outside the box” creates inspired cultures.

Expand your attitude toward alternative forms of business ‘knowing.’  Soul-inspiring leaders recognize that listening to and trusting oneself can help solve problems and improve decision-making, ultimately increasing results.  The need for leaders who can create a different future, rather than relying on tried-and-true formulas, is only increasing.  It only makes sense to achieve high performance through inner wisdom.

Notice what you are noticing.  In effect, this means becoming an observer of your own life.  Imagine taking a helicopter ride above the scenery surrounding you.  Looking down from these heights allows a better view of what is happening in your life.  Allow intuitive insights to come to you by filtering in – not out – information that comes to your awareness from your environment.

Believe you can bring into being whatever you wish to create.  While initially counterintuitive to how we have been taught, each of us possesses a huge capability to manifest whatever we intend to happen in our lives.  Unfortunately, many internalize others’ messages and therefore wind up living the way they think others want it to be for them.  We need to remember who we really are – powerful creators.

Set aside your busy mind’s activity.  We typically spend so much time in our heads at work that it helps to rebalance this overuse of the brain by attending to the messages our bodies constantly give us.  Meditative and reflective practices really help.  Ideally, logic and inner knowing work in unison to make us more effective across the spectrum of our business activity.

Questions For Reflection

How can you apply inner wisdom in your professional role as a leader as well as in your personal life?

What insights have you gained from learning about inner knowing, and how can you apply notions like “noticing” and “intentionality”?

What are some ways you can encourage others in your organization (direct reports, peers, you leader) to trust their inner sense of authority?

 

 

 

Definition

1) A piece of work, especially one done for hire or profit; 2) A paid position of employment; 3) Anything one has to do, a task.

Tips

‘Wake up and smell the coffee’ of a shrinking labour pool!  With temporary or self-employed work, people often find the freedom to be passionate about what they do, and they feel they can achieve a measure of balance they are afraid of losing from their lives if they commit to a full-time position.  This reality does not bode well for corporations unless they do something radically different to attract and retain.

Expand your view of what people are actually seeking.  So often, jobs reflect the thinking that people seek only economic gain – they work for pay!  Of course, we acknowledge that people have a deeply rooted desire for a reasonable amount of satisfying work they are fit to perform.  Beyond that, however, a limited view of why people work merely creates an organizational “crisis of the soul.”

Remove your traditional thinking about jobs.  While Henry Ford’s assembly line dates to the 1920’s, much of how we structure and manage work today has changed very little since that time.  At one point, the notion of chunking work down into series of tasks may have seemed novel.  At this time, it merely dehumanizes the job, alienates people from their work and creates disengagement.

Design jobs to create meaning, challenge and accomplishment.  Solid job design means people have the authority to make decisions and perform in flexible ways.  The person doing the job knows it best – so get out of their way!  Economists speak of the “rise of the knowledge worker.”  We prefer to talk about the “death of the joe job” and people’s refusal to stay in jobs that are unrewarding.

Be willing to entertain new work options.  Soul-inspiring leaders are willing to entertain new work options that serve the person, the company and their business goals.  This kind of leadership enables everyone to maximize their own possibilities.  It opens up new levels of productivity, creativity and opportunity for the organization and employees – a real new economy ‘job’ contract.

Create motivated performance.  Motivated performance consists of a what, why and how.  Organizations need employees who understand what they do, why they do it and how they make a difference – true performance motivators.  It is the shift from doing one’s job to collect the pay to seeing how one’s actions affect business goals and therefore contribute to everyone’s success.

Imagine a new world of work.  Imagine a world where the contract with employees truly rewards results; where employees are proportionately paid for their contribution rather than by title or position.  It’s a world where status differences between part-time and full-time are irrelevant, as people freely move between periods of less intense and more intense work rhythms.

Questions For Reflection

Reflecting on how the above trends will affect you personally in the next five to ten years, what will be different about jobs in your field or industry?

Do you currently face issues in attracting and retaining qualified workers, and do you estimate this will get better or worse in the future?

What would you most like to change about your job, and what does this suggest about staying in your current position, versus changing jobs or careers?

 

 

 

Definition

1) The ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful; 2) A mental faculty forming images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses; 3) The process of imagining (fancies, fantasies).

Tips

See beyond current circumstances.  Imagination is a powerful force that can open up possibilities and allow us to see beyond current circumstances into a future not yet realized.  Which brings us to the essence of leadership – to paint a picture of the future that rises above the current state and outline a promised future compelling for all people to participate in.

See goals as “dreams with a deadline”.  Leaders must dream dreams and be prepared to use their imaginations to envision the future.  They do not see “dreaming” as time spent “daydreaming”.  True leaders do not see their roles as strictly creating deliberate strategies and easy-to-understand tactics.  They are comfortable that so-called “fuzzy” imagination can create high performance.

Distinguish between management and leadership.  In organizations the world over, you do not have to be a leader in order to be a manager.  Managing tasks is about tactical execution – getting people to do things right.  The question is whether they are doing the right things.  A missing element could be imagination borne of an agreed sentiment that one’s doing is tied to a higher vision.

Lead with a compelling vision of the future.  To lead with vision is to first draw from the spark of one’s own imagination.  Logic and reason tend to impose boundaries on human potential, whereas leading with vision creates a compelling ‘why’ in people’s minds.  Soul-inspiring leaders draw broadly from their knowledge of human nature to craft visions that engage followers’ imaginations.

Have your vision serve a greater good.  The vision might be to change the world by introducing a revolutionary product or service that advances lives or progress.  Martin Luther King had a dream.  Gandhi bore the hopes of a nation.  They are truly exemplary leaders who turned dreams into reality and people willingly followed, creating a reality they alone dared cast as possible.

Be prepared to check your title at the door.  In soul-inspiring organizations, everyone is expected to be part of the idea-generation process.  Anyone’s ideas are considered valuable and powerful.  Not necessarily will every idea offered up be implemented.  Rather, leaders settle on a few ideas that can generate the outcomes to which everyone is committed.

Generate the future by going to the unknown rather than the known.  The future already exists apart from present reality; it is not created from what we know, but from another dimension where we do not colour it with either past or present experiences.  We can bring that unpolluted future to us in the moment through our imaginations and use it in the now.  This uses our extensive untapped capabilities.

Questions For Reflection

What is compelling for others about the vision you have set forth?

Have y0u ever truly dreamed about the possibilities of what you do, including the potential to change the world?

How can you learn to better engage people’s imaginations, and what would happen to your leadership style if you adopted this method?

Definition

1) The heart regarded as the centre of thought, feeling and emotion; 2) Courage or enthusiasm; 3) The innermost part of something.

Tips

Notice how often business language refers to the heart.  For example – “getting to the heart of the matter,” “what lies at the heart of the issue,” and “to have a change of heart”.  Notice the origin of the word “courage:” cor, standing for heart.  To have courage means to have heart.  When we encourage others, offering them courage, we literally give them heart.

Choose whether to interact from fear or love.  We can either interact with the world from fear or love – including the arena of work.  Heart-based leaders do not become uncomfortable when coached to own the responsibility for bringing their hearts to work and encouraging others to do the same.  They are willing rather than panicked by the suggestion.

Observe your assumptions about caring for people.  A common fear-based objection is to worry that being caring will translate into being taken advantage of.  To love and yet need to make decisions that cause people pain are not mutually exclusive.  The act of showing kindness to employees does not render leaders foolish or impotent in the dog-eat-dog business world; quite the opposite.

Avoid a singular focus on the head over the heart.  In most companies, the head frequently rules the roost.  In left brain-dominated workplaces, there is a belief that logic alone will result in productivity.  The heart is viewed as somehow soft and therefore unnecessary.  As a result, much of organizational life is out of balance.  While paradoxical, harmony between head and heart is optimal.

Approach even difficult tasks with the heart.  Even when their actions would not be deemed loving (for example, laying off their workforce), soul-inspiring leaders realize they can still approach obligatory tasks in heart-based ways.  In this context, heart involves both strength and toughness.  It involves leaders’ awareness of their responsibility to be both fair and firm, gutsy and gracious.

Strengthen your heart muscle through willingness.  Being a believer does not automatically a doer make.  Activating the power of our hearts takes practice and consistent intention.  While invisible to the eye, make no mistake: the health of a company’s ‘heart’ is felt at the core of everyone’s being – through outward-rippling effects on employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers.

Invite the benefits of the heart into your business results.  The best leaders achieve their outstanding results precisely because they pay attention to the heart.  If anything, outwardly gruff leaders ultimately become what we call beloved – those for whom people will give their all.  Beneath their blustery exteriors lie hearts of gold.  Heart is a powerful force in achieving high standards and stretch goals.

Believe the link between heart and profit.  Leaders who capture their employees’ hearts seldom need to worry about the motivation to produce profit and earnings – the supposed reasons for being in business.  Engaged hearts motivate themselves.  Forward-looking businesses recognize ‘heart’ can achieve results far surpassing any financial forecast dreamt up by the brain alone.

Questions For Reflection

What is one thing you have done in the last week to send a signal to people that welcoming the heart at work is important to you?

What proportions of your life do you spend coming from your head, heart and hands – and what do you notice about these percentages?

How much would you say you “love” the people you lead, the products and services you offer, and the customers or clients you serve?

Definition

1) Courteous good will; 2) A divinely given talent; 3) To confer honor or dignity upon.

Tips

Rise above pettiness to forgive and forget.  All great leaders demonstrate grace; they restrain and reserve their opinions.  This essential attitude helps eliminate the fear of failure present in so many followers.  Without tolerance for failure, we become risk-averse and unimaginative – the very opposite of the innovative and intra-preneurial qualities organizations claim to encourage.

Catch mixed messages.  Stay vigilant about allowing these to creep into daily behaviour.  For example, early in a company’s history experimentation is often an accepted part of running the business.  Some efforts fail while others succeed.  Over time, if knee-jerk reactions in the face of failure are allowed to grow, the original culture that attracted bright stars now repels.

Recognize that results and effort is not always the same thing.  It is truly possible for a company to be running at 110 percent capacity, fully staffed by dedicated people, and for the business to not achieve its planned results.  Despite augmenting the talent pool and superhuman daily efforts, results can actually decline to worrisome lows.  Despite everything, efforts can fail to translate to the bottom line.

Balance results and effort.  Soul-inspiring leaders stand by a balanced view of performance that is more characterized by gracious rather than institutional traits.  They think carefully before creating environments too structured or filled with artificial expectations to enable a healthy balance between focus on results and experimentation.

Stay open as opposed to tightening up.  Retrenchment actually sets up a collision course with failure.  While panic-stricken managers move into a blame game of singling out “weak links” not focusing on results, competitors simultaneously push the envelope and thereby gain momentum.  Blaming to communicate “how serious the situation is” does no one any service.

Stay away from rewarding mediocrity with undue patience.  The cost of failing to “make plan” is steep, especially in companies whose stocks are traded on public markets.  Punished by analysts, market-makers and the media, any company that does not make plan is instantly on its way to disaster.  Soul-inspiring leaders do not “wait forever” but neither do they punish effort at the first sign of failure.

Remember what it is like to learn a new skill.  Surely, those around you (parents, coaches and teachers) did not give up on you when you were younger, learning a new skill, sport or subject in school.  Indeed, the more appropriate response was to reward effort, and to focus on the path that eventually got you to where you wanted to be.  The same holds true for people in organizations.

Questions For Reflection

What connections do you see between a feeling of safety from being judged solely on your results and your ability to be creative?

What kind of impact do you think more grace could have on your workplace and on your relationships?

How does the environment in which you were raised influence your reaction to this theme and your ability to demonstrate grace toward others?